Festejo indulged himself between meals. Suddenly, the Monarchs' 133-pounder found himself working out not to hone his conditioning and technique, but to drop weight. His wrestling suffered.

"I didn't start out the year as good as I wanted it to be," Festejo said, "but I've learned from my mistakes."

A team captain, Festejo is one of the primary cogs as the Monarchs enter the second half of the season, which includes their annual appearance at the Virginia Duals on Friday and Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum.

The Monarchs, ranked 25th in the latest USA Today/NWCA/AWN coaches' poll, open against The Citadel at 11 a.m. Friday. The winner of that match wrestles the winner of No. 16 Edinboro-Army at 3 p.m.

"Being a captain and one of the older guys, I have to show the younger guys how to work hard the whole practice and not give up," Festejo said. "We have to lead and show the younger guys what's expected."

Festejo's leadership begins with setting an example himself. After a roughly month-long lapse, he avoids the cereal bar aisle at the market and is better for it.

"We expect him to be able to beat anybody he wrestles," ODU coach Steve Martin said. "Contend for All-American, national championship honors. That's the expectation, the goal for him."

Not that Festejo was bad or competed poorly early in the season. He is 14-8, and three of those losses were to nationally-ranked opponents from Pittsburgh, Purdue and Missouri.

But he now trains to improve, and is back to wrestling at his usual aggressive, relentless pace.

"He's in your face the whole time," Martin said. "Pretty exciting to watch because he can pin you at any time. He's got a real good gas tank. He's been behind 5-0 in the first period and come back and won 13-12 matches. It's not good to give up those points early, but that's the type of wrestler he is. He's never out of a match."

Festejo also learns and improves through the course of a season. Last year, he had to win the CAA championship to qualify for the NCAA meet and did so. He defeated Hofstra's nationally-ranked Jamie Franco 4-3 in the title match, six weeks after losing to him 6-1 at the CAA Duals.

Martin said that Festejo is quite coachable, though he probably does more drill work than anyone on the roster. The challenge, Martin said, is channeling his aggressiveness and getting him to wrestle more tactically.

"He's pretty much figured that out now," Martin said, "but that was after long hours of technique and drills."

Festejo believes that conditioning and his style separate him from other wrestlers. It's not unusual for him to work out twice a day. He did so earlier in the season, but for different reasons.

"I was getting more workouts in for the wrong purpose, because I was eating too much and to get my weight down," he said. "Now, it's about getting my conditioning better and making me a better wrestler."

Festejo said he isn't worried about overextending himself or giving his body proper time to rest and recover.

"I'm not as sore as I was when I was working out to cut weight," he said. "I feel better now after the extra workouts."

Festejo is one of a core group of upperclassmen that has helped to elevate ODU's program. He was a top-10 national recruit from Long Branch, N.J., a seaside town in the northern end of the state, just up the road from Asbury Park.

He grew up two blocks from the beach, but his home was spared the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, because it's a little elevated above nearly all of the surrounding areas. His house had about six inches of water in the basement, and the storm surge pushed only part of the way up the driveway, sparing the family cars, as well.

"We were lucky," he said. "The street in front of our house was flooded and a lot of our neighbors had it a lot worse."

Festejo chose ODU over Rutgers because he said it felt like the right fit and he liked the direction of the program. He surfs in his spare time — he's also a lifeguard in the summer back home — and the proximity to the ocean allows regular trips to the beach.

Trips to the oceanfront are one of his few indulgences, now that he's off the cereal bar kick and refocused.

"I wanted to win some 'opens,' but I didn't really accomplish those goals," Festejo said. "Now I'm looking to get some upsets, win the conference and make nationals and get on the podium at the end of the year."